


Love Bites

by sixclawsdragon



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, As i update, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 12:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16174901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixclawsdragon/pseuds/sixclawsdragon
Summary: Shinichi has never believed in the supernatural, but he may have to reconsider his stance. After all, he's living (undead?) proof that vampires exist. Who knows what else is out there? Now if only he can figure out how to go outside without being burned by the sun.





	1. The Incident

Shinichi’s nails dig into the dirt under his hands as he grits his teeth against the pain wracking his whole body. It feels like he’s being burned alive, and he knows he’s dying. His heart is pounding, and he feels a sudden spike of pain like someone’s driven a knife into it, and then he feels it stop as he loses consciousness.

He wakes alone in the grass where he’d fallen. He’s dirty and a little confused, but he’s alive. He sits up and takes stock of his injuries, which are...none. He can’t find anything wrong with himself, physically. There’s dried blood in his hair where the man with the long hair had hit him with the pipe, but no wound underneath it. Nothing hurts when he pokes at it, and he doesn’t understand it. According to those men, that poison should have killed him. It had certainly felt like he was dying.

Regardless, he probably _should_ be dead. If the men in black find out he’s still alive, they’ll come back to finish him off. He needs to get out of here before anyone can see him. He scrambles up and starts running, leaving the amusement park and heading for his house.

Shinichi realizes as he rounds a corner that he’s not breathing heavily, like he should be after running hard. He stumbles and nearly falls when he realizes he isn’t breathing at all. He stops and takes his pulse, presses a hand to his chest, anything, but he can’t feel his heartbeat. Maybe...maybe he _is_ dead after all. Is he a ghost or something now? He doesn’t even believe in ghosts!

He veers away from his front gate and knocks on the professor’s door, hoping for a little help figuring out what’s happened to him.

“Shinichi-kun?” Agasa looks him over when he answers the door. “You look awful, what happened?”

“I’ll tell you inside, I can’t be seen.” Shinichi looks over his shoulder at the empty street, suddenly paranoid.

“Come in, then.” Agasa holds the door open wider for him. He makes tea, and Shinichi digs up a change of clothes he’d left behind the last time he had stayed over to help with an experiment. They sit down in the living room to talk.

“Professor, I think there’s something wrong with me.” Shinichi starts. He explains the incident at Tropical Land, how he’d been poisoned, and how he has no heartbeat. Agasa tries to take his pulse, then rummages around in a junk drawer for a stethoscope, but even then, he can’t hear anything.

“If I wasn’t seeing it for myself, I wouldn’t believe it.” He says, shaking his head. “I don’t know what’s happened to you. It’s like you’re dead, but you’re sitting here talking to me.”

“So what, I’m a ghost or something?”

“I don’t think you’re a ghost.” Agasa shakes his head. “I can still see and hear you, and you can touch and hold things.”

“Then what am I?” Shinichi tries to calm down and think this through logically, like he would with any other problem. The facts he has right now are: 1. His cardiopulmonary system isn’t functioning anymore, 2. His body hasn’t visibly changed, as far as he can tell, and 3. His injuries were gone when he woke up.

“I think I have a book on mythical creatures around here somewhere. That may help.” Agasa gets up to look over his bookshelf. _Great_ , Shinichi thinks. He’s apparently a mythical creature now.

“Here it is.” The professor sits back down holding a leather bound book with silver-edged pages. Shinichi watches as he flips through it, naming possibilities as they try to narrow it down.

“No decay, no bandages…do you have any urge to collect and guard treasure?” Agasa asks as he checks another page. Shinichi thinks about it for a moment, trying to tell if he’s feeling anything like that.

“No.” He says, and Agasa hums and turns the page.

“Your eyes aren’t glowing, so this one’s out. Do you have fangs?” He looks up from the book, and Shinichi opens his mouth to poke at his canines with a finger. They don’t feel any longer than usual, but they do seem sharper. He presses a little harder and feels his tooth cut into his finger.

“Maybe?” He holds up the cut finger to show the professor.

“You might be a vampire.” Agasa tells him, closing the book. “That’s the only thing I’ve found that could fit.”

“How can we confirm it?” Shinichi wants evidence, something more solid and believable than weirdly sharp canine teeth.

“Hmm….” Agasa goes to his work bench, doing something Shinichi can’t see. Suddenly something smells... _good_. He can’t place the scent, but he knows that whatever it is, he wants it. Agasa turns around, holding a small knife. There’s a small cut on his arm, and Shinichi’s eyes are drawn to the blood welling up from it. He’s out of his chair and standing before he even realizes it.

“Oh.” He says, stunned. He watches, transfixed, as the professor presses a tissue to his arm to the bleeding before sticking a bandaid over the cut. Agasa looks at Shinichi staring and chuckles.

“I think that confirms it.” He says, and Shinichi manages to sit down again.

“You shouldn’t have done that. What if I had hurt you?” The smell of blood had been alluring. What if it had driven Shinichi to act, and he had lost control? He doesn’t know the first thing about being a vampire, he might not have been able to stop himself. It’s a worrying thought.

“Vampire or not, you’re still Shinichi-kun. You wouldn’t hurt me.” Agasa says, fully confident. Shinichi appreciates the trust, but he needs to figure out how all this vampire stuff works as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he doesn’t exactly know any other vampires, assuming they exist, so he’ll have to learn everything on his own.

He borrows Agasa’s book and reads the page on vampires. The list of vampire traits is as good a starting place as any, and he tests as many of them as he can with the help of the professor. They learn that he still has a reflection, that he can still take a selfie on his phone and appear in the photo, and that crosses and other Western religious iconography don’t have any effect on him. He can still eat regular food with no problems, though he isn’t sure whether ingesting garlic would harm him.

Agasa yawns as Shinichi sniffs at the powdered garlic he’d found in the back of the pantry, and Shinichi puts the cap back on. They’ve been up all night, and he hadn’t realized the time.

“Sorry for keeping you up all night.” He apologizes. He’s feeling tired too, so he clearly still needs sleep. The sky is growing light outside, and Shinichi decides he should test one more thing before they go to bed.

He pulls on a jacket to protect his arm and body, just in case, before opening the door just a crack, sticking one hand out into the light of dawn. It burns, and he hisses as he pulls his hand back in and slams the door. Well, there goes his career as a detective. Maybe he can be some kind of special night consultant.

“Shinichi-kun!” Agasa hurries over and gently pulls his injured hand away from his chest to examine it.

“I guess I’m stuck here until tonight.” Shinichi winces. The professor fusses over him and brings out a first aid kit to treat the burn, and Shinichi goes to bed in the guest room with a bandaged hand and uneasy dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He’s disoriented for a moment when he wakes. It’s evening again, and he’s a little disappointed that he’s slept the day away. Then he remembers: he’s a vampire now. He’s probably _supposed_ to be nocturnal, considering the way the sun had burned him. He sighs and drags himself out of bed and into the kitchen, where Agasa is waiting with pizza. It’s warm, probably just delivered, and Shinichi is starving. He has three slices, but the hunger doesn’t quite disappear. Shinichi has a sneaking suspicion that he needs something more than regular food, as much as he doesn’t want to admit it.

But where is he supposed to find blood? He can’t just go attack someone on the street. It’ll have to wait until he figures out an alternative. If a human can go for weeks without food, surely a vampire can go without blood for a little while. It’s not as urgent as hiding from the men in black. That reminds him, he needs to find a place to lay low for a while.

“Professor, I’m going home.” He calls out, collecting his filthy clothes from last night. He checks his front door for any sign of forced entry before he unlocks it, and doesn’t turn on any lights once he’s inside, not wanting anyone to see that he’s there, but he can see perfectly without them. It makes sense, he supposes. If he’s a nocturnal predator now, night vision would be essential.

Shinichi intends to pack a small bag and head out to look for a place to hide. He makes sure that whatever he takes doesn’t leave any obvious signs that something’s missing, even rearranging his closet to hide the gaps where he’s taken clothes out to pack. He’s debating bringing a book to keep him entertained when he hears pounding at the front door. His first thought is that the men in black have come for him, but he knows they wouldn’t bother to knock. He freezes as the door opens and Ran calls out.

“Shinichi? I know you’re home!”

He doesn’t exactly want anyone else to know what’s happened to him, but if he’s going to disappear, he can at least tell her he’s leaving. He owes her that much. He sighs.

“Up here!” He calls out, zipping up his backpack as her footsteps on the stairs get closer. She stops in the doorway of his room, hands on her hips.

“There you are! Why did you leave like that? You could have at least called me if-” She stops, looking him over. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He lies, and she squints at him.

“Are you sick? You look pale.” She comes closer and reaches up to feel his forehead He flinches away, not wanting her to feel how cold he is. She doesn’t push, just lowers her hand. Shinichi can see her notice the backpack for the first time. She looks at it and then back at him. “Shinichi?”

“I have to leave for a while, Ran.” He says, slinging the bag over one shoulder.

“Are you in trouble?” Ran asks, taking his unbandaged hand. She gasps. “You’re so cold! I knew you were sick, you idiot.”

“I’m not-”

“Don’t try to deny it, I’m taking you to the doctor in the morning.”

“Ran, listen to me.” She stops, waiting, and he takes a deep breath and says it. “I’m not sick, Ran, I’m a vampire.”

“What?”

“I...ran into some trouble at Tropical Land after I left you, and now I’m a vampire.” He explains, hoping she won’t ask for proof. But she doesn’t even question it.

“Is that why you’re leaving?” She asks, and he shakes his head.

“No, I need to hide from the men that made me like this. They’ll kill me if they find me.” He doesn’t sugarcoat it. Ran needs to know this is serious.

“Where will you go?”

“I don’t know yet, but I can’t stay with anyone close to me. I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

“You’d better keep in touch. I want to know that you’re safe.” She looks him the eye. “Promise me.”

“I promise.” He says.

“And I expect to hear all about this vampire stuff later.” She gives him a hug and leaves, and he waits a moment to be sure she’s gone before he does too. Shinichi wanders around for a while, avoiding areas where people are likely to be out at night.

Eventually he finds an empty house with a “for sale” sign outside that looks like it’s been there for a while. He needs somewhere to stay during the day so he won’t burn, and he figures as long as he doesn’t steal or break anything, it should be okay to stay in the house.

He curls up in the closet, since the bedroom window doesn’t have curtains to block out the sun. He’ll need a better plan sooner or later, but this will do for now.


	2. Discoveries and Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi learns a little more about being a vampire, and Ran has a request for him

Shinichi establishes a routine of sleeping anywhere he can during the day and going out at night in disguise. He can’t be seen as Kudo Shinichi, so he wears a cheap wig and fake glasses. He goes by Fujimine Yoshio, after his mother’s maiden name and the name of a detective in a novel he’d read shortly before the incident at Tropical Land. His tendency to happen upon murders hasn’t changed at all since becoming a vampire, and “Yoshio” is starting to gain a reputation as the weird kid who emerges from the shadows to point out the culprit.

Being a vampire in hiding from a criminal organization isn’t as bad as he’d expected it to be. He can still be a detective, and he’s been making friends with the police. Ran texts him often on his new burner phone, and sometimes they meet up and have a meal (dinner for her, breakfast for him). It’s all going as well as it can be, until he gets mugged.

He should’ve been expecting something like this to happen. He’s walking alone at night through a deserted alley, he’s practically asking to be robbed.

“Give me your backpack, and nobody gets hurt.” The mugger demands, brandishing a knife. Shinichi takes a step back and looks around for something to kick. There’s no convenient garbage in the alley, and for once he wishes people would litter more. His backpack is full of everything he brought with him from home, everything he currently has. He’s not giving it up.

“I’m not gonna ask again, kid.” The mugger growls, and Shinichi shifts his stance, planning to try one of the karate moves Ran taught him as a last ditch effort. He kicks, but the mugger dodges and stabs with the knife, and Shinichi’s body is suddenly _gone_.

“What the hell!?” The man looks around, but doesn’t seem to see Shinichi. He’s still in the same spot, but he feels odd. Floaty. Spread out, somehow. He watches as the mugger leaves the alley, muttering about ghosts.

He’s not sure how long he stays there, floating, but eventually he manages to concentrate on pulling himself back together. His body reforms sitting on the ground, and he quickly checks himself over to make sure he’s all there.

“What was that?” He murmurs to himself, looking at his hands, which are solid again. He’s still wearing his backpack, so he stands up and brushes himself off, leaving the alley. He waits until he’s back in the house he’d slept in yesterday to sit down and google vampire abilities. He scrolls through a list on wikipedia until he finds “transformation into mist” and clicks on it.

Reading the description, it’s clear that this is what he’s just done. He’d somehow turned into mist on instinct, like a defense mechanism. He locks his phone and sits down on the floor. Maybe he can figure out how to do it again. It could be a useful skill, if he can control it. He concentrates on how it had felt to be mist earlier, trying to bring that feeling back. After a moment, he feels his body dissipate again-it works.

He floats around the house for a while, testing his ability to move around in this form. He’s delighted to learn that he can slips through small spaces like this, like the gap between a closed door and the frame. This is _definitely_ going to be a useful skill.

He pulls himself back into human form and texts Ran to tell her he’s discovered a new ability, careful to make it sound like something from a video game. He’s been a little paranoid since Tropical Land, and it’s not impossible for the Black Organization to be monitoring his friends and family.

Ran responds asking if they can hang out soon, and they arrange to meet at a little cafe after nightfall the next day. Shinichi promises to show her his new ability, but doesn’t provide any details. She’ll see soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cafe is nice, and the waffles Shinichi orders are great, but they don’t quite satisfy him. He’s noticed the constant hunger that his meals only take the edge off of, but he doesn’t want to think about what it means, even if he already knows.

“So, Sonoko wanted to invite Shinichi to help her with a case, but since he’s missing,” Ran says, smiling conspiratorially. “I told her I would ask you instead.”

“Ran, I can’t-” He starts, but Ran interrupts.

“Don’t worry, it’s at night. At least let me tell you about it.” She insists, and Shinichi relents, too curious to say no.

“Alright, but no promises.”

“Okay, you know that thief Kaitou Kid?” Ran asks, and Shinichi nods. “Well, Sonoko’s family got a notice from him. He says he’s going to steal this big pearl, the Black Star. Sonoko wants you to help protect it.”

“And?” Shinichi probes, sensing that Ran is holding something back.

“And catch Kaitou Kid so Sonoko can make him fall in love with her.”

“That’s ridiculous.” He says bluntly, and Ran nods.

“I know, but it would be a big help if you came. Sonoko’s mom is really worried about losing the pearl, and I’m sure you could keep it safe.”

“I’ll think about it.” He promises. They finish their food and go for a walk. Shinichi leads Ran to a park that closes at dark, guaranteed to be empty. He doesn’t want to show off his vampire powers in public, after all.

“Okay, what’s this cool new ability?” Ran asks, excited.

“Watch.” He says, closing his eyes and concentrating on the feeling of being mist until he dissolves. Ran gasps, and he floats around behind her before rematerializing.

“Boo.” He whispers in her ear, and she jumps.

“Don’t do that! What if I had hit you?” She pouts. Shinichi is well aware of Ran’s tendency to lash out when startled.

“You wanted to see.” He shrugs. “Besides, I think I’m faster than before. I could dodge.”

Ran hums thoughtfully at that, then pulls an arm back and tries to punch him. He dodges before he realizes she’s stopped short of hitting him.

“Yep, definitely faster.”

“Ran!” She just laughs, and Shinichi rolls his eyes. They sit on a park bench and chat for a bit, but soon enough Ran has to head home. The day is ending for her, after all. Shinichi’s day (night) is just beginning. He wanders around for a bit after parting with Ran, wondering what to do with his time.

The question is answered for him when he follows the sound of sirens to a group of police cars outside a bar. They’ve already secured the scene, but no one stops him when he ducks under the tape to see what’s going on inside. Detective Takagi is the first to notice him.

“Ah, Fujimine-kun!”

“Hello, Detective. What happened here?”

“I don’t know how you always manage to show up for things like this, it’s like you can sense murders somehow.” Takagi shakes his head. “Someone was poisoned. The victim was celebrating his birthday with some friends, but he collapsed during dinner. He was already dead when we arrived.”

“Have you determined how the poison was administered yet?”

“Forensics is working on that right now, but you’re welcome to look around if you think you can help.” Takagi nods at the swarm of people around the table where the murder happened. Shinichi thanks him and goes to examine the scene.

The crime is relatively easy to solve. The victim’s sister had poisoned him for “stealing” her inheritance. Another pointless murder that could’ve been avoided by talking. Shinichi declines Takagi’s invitation to ride along to whatever he’s called in for next. Between hanging out with Ran and this murder, he’s out of free time for the night. He needs to decide where he’s sleeping for the day and get inside before the sun comes up.

When he’s settled in a 24 hour internet cafe, he thinks about Ran’s invitation. He uses the computer at his cubicle to do a little research on Kaitou Kid. He learns that his father had chased Kid when he was younger, but based on the eight year gap in heists and the different patterns of activity, this Kid is probably a different one than the one his father had faced. He also learns that the the thief is consistently nonviolent. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to take a break from murders and chase after a harmless thief.

Shinichi closes the browser and texts Ran.

_“I’m in, but I’m not unmasking Kid for Sonoko.”_


	3. April Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the heist has arrived, and Shinichi faces off against Kaitou Kid!

Ran sends Shinichi a photo the next day. It’s a picture of the heist note from Kaitou Kid, but it’s been torn to pieces and taped back together.

_“What happened to it?”_ He texts, curious.

_“Sonoko’s dad was **not** happy when he got it.” _ She replies. Shinichi can imagine. Thankfully, the notice is still readable after being reassembled. It’s clearly some kind of code, and Shinichi is intrigued. The sun will be up soon, but he’s already safe in his cubicle at the internet cafe. It can’t hurt to work on the code for a little while before he goes to sleep, right?

Or maybe it can, Shinichi learns when the sun’s nearly set again and he’s still awake. Apparently being a vampire hasn’t helped his bad habit of getting too absorbed in a case or puzzle to pay attention to things like sleep. He only manages to squeeze in a quick nap before it’s fully dark and he has to go meet Ran at the Beika Museum, where the pearl is being displayed.

Sonoko’s father welcomes him, clearly glad to have some help. The police are already all over the place, including Superintendent Chaki of Division Two. Everyone has their own idea of what the note is supposed to mean, Shinichi isn’t sure yet what the true meaning is. At least, not until someone says something that sparks a thought, a theory. The sun isn’t up, and he doesn’t make a habit of carrying a compass, so he connects to the museum wifi and quickly downloads a compass app.

He taps on his screen impatiently as it finishes downloading, and when it’s finally done, he opens it and turns to face south, searching the buildings there. _There_.

“Sh-Yoshio-kun, where are you going?” Ran asks, nearly slipping up as Shinichi shoves his phone back in his pocket and runs for the door.

“I need to check something!” He calls back as he leaves the museum and jogs to the Haido City Hotel, the building he’s _certain_ Kid will arrive from. It’s not quite 12:30 yet, so he still has a minute or two before Kaitou Kid arrives. But what is he going to do with that time? He hasn’t exactly come prepared. He calls Ran, thinking he can at least have her tell the police where to go.

“Yoshio-kun? What-”

“I solved the note, Ran. I know where Kid will be coming from.” He’s excited now, anticipation building.

“That’s great! Do you want me to put you on speaker so you can tell the police?”

“Just tell them I’m on the roof of the Haido City Hotel. Kid will-” He stops short at the sound of someone behind him, and turns around to find Kaitou Kid himself dropping gracefully onto the roof.

“Yoshio-kun?” Ran calls out, but his phone is at his side now as he stares down the thief. Kid is younger than he’d expected, maybe in his 20s, or even younger. Kid takes a few steps forward, smirking at him.

“Hello.” He says. “You don’t seem to be with the police. Are you here for me?”

Rather than answer him, Shinichi raises his phone back to his ear and speaks to Ran, locking eyes with the thief as he does.

“He’s here. Tell the superintendent.” He can distantly hear her passing his words on, and the sound of Chaki shouting in the background. A helicopter turns toward them, and Shinichi smirks at Kid.

“Looks like my message got through.”

“I take it you’re a detective, then.” Kid says, still smirking.

“Fujimine Yoshio.” And even the fake name doesn’t ruin the thrill. Kid just keeps on smirking, clearing his throat lightly as he pulls a police radio from somewhere inside his jacket.

“This is Chaki!” He shouts into it in a perfect imitation of Superintendent Chaki’s voice. “Kaitou Kid has been sighted on the roof of Haido City Hotel! All units and all helicopters, get to the scene and capture him!”

Shinichi can only watch in amazement as Kid switches voices again, this time calling all men inside the hotel to the roof as Inspector Nakamori. But why? Why bring everyone right to him?

“Satisfied now, Detective?” Kid gloats, pocketing the radio as Inspector Nakamori and his men burst through the door onto the roof.

“Don’t move, Kid!” The inspector shouts, drawing his gun. Kid just congratulates him on solving his notice.

“But I don’t intend to steal anything tonight.” He says, and Nakamori somehow gets even louder.

“What!?”

“Oh, I do believe I made it clear in my notice.” He says, and Shinichi realizes what he means as he opens his glider as announces “April fool’s.”

They’re all forced to shield their eyes as a flash bomb falls from Kid’s sleeve, and with Shinichi’s eyes now geared towards night vision, it’s painfully bright. Kid calls out to him while he’s still blinded.

“Hey, Detective. You know, phantom thieves are creative artists who skillfully steal our targets. Detectives are just critics who try to find faults afterwards.” Shinichi can’t see him, but he’s almost certain Kid is smirking at him again. As the effects of the flash bomb finally start to fade, there’s a puff of smoke, and Kid is gone.

Shinichi is, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, very impressed. Nakamori shakes a fist at the sky as if this is normal for him, and a piece of paper with a single red rose taped to it floats down to land in front of him. It’s a another note from Kid, with just a simple statement rather than a riddle.

He’ll be back to steal the pearl on the Queen Selizabeth when it departs from Yokohama Port on the nineteenth. Shinichi half wonders if maybe the police would give him the rose when they’ve finished trying to get evidence out of it, but dismisses that thought as ridiculous.

He needs to get inside before the sun comes up, he doesn’t have time to worry about flowers from thieves. He meets up with Ran inside before he leaves.

“Well, how was it?” She asks, and he beams for a moment before remembering he probably shouldn’t look so excited about a thief getting away.

“He’s, uh...better than I expected. I can come to the second part of the heist, right?”

“I’m sure Sonoko’s family would love to have you again, since you were the one to figure out where Kid was going to appear.” Ran assures him.

“Wait, do you know what time the ship is supposed to leave?” He realizes suddenly that if it’s departing before nightfall, he’s going to have a problem.

“I’ll ask Sonoko. I’m sure we can find a way to get you onboard safely, though.”

Shinichi certainly hopes so. He’s really looking forward to facing Kaitou Kid again. But this time, he won’t underestimate the thief. This time, he’ll win.


	4. The Real Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi finds a way onto the Queen Selizabeth to face off against Kid again, and gets his picture in the paper for his troubles.

The sun is setting, but not fast enough for Shinichi. The Queen Selizabeth won’t wait for dark before departing. Fortunately, Shinichi and Ran have had weeks to plan for this. Sonoko and Ran come to pick him up in a Suzuki car, to keep him out of the sun on the way to the harbor. Shinichi wears a hoodie to protect himself, along with gloves and sunglasses. He’s completely covered, so he should be safe, if a little uncomfortable.

Ran sticks close to him as they board the ship, worrying about him as usual. When they’re approved by the men standing guard, he overhears that the police aren’t being allowed to search the guests. That’ll give Kid an advantage, but Shinichi is determined to give the thief a run for his money.

When they’re safely inside, Shinichi slips into a bathroom to change into something more suited for the fancy party. Sonoko’s father is giving a speech when he returns to Ran, but he doesn’t quite listen. He’s looking around the room, trying to figure out Kid’s plan for tonight.

“Before that, I have a special plan for tonight.” Shinichi’s attention is drawn back to the stage when Sonoko’s mother speaks, instructing everyone to open the small boxes they’d received when they boarded the ship.

When he opens his box to reveal a large pearl, Shinichi’s first thought is that there’s no way the Suzukis have given the Black Star to a random party guest. It’s too valuable and too important to their family. He pins his fake pearl to his shirt anyway.

“Your mom is so smart.” Ran says, cheerfully pinning her pearl to her dress. “Right, Sonoko?”

“Ran, have you seen my sister anywhere?” Sonoko asks, looking worried. Ran shakes her head, and Sonoko tries calling her sister.

“What do you mean you’re still at home? What time do you think it is!?” She pouts. “Eh? Papa is with you?”

Shinichi doesn’t listen to the rest of her conversation. If Sonoko’s father is at home, then the one who’d been speaking earlier has to be Kid! He searches the crowd around the stage before asking an employee where Suzuki-san went. Ran catches up just as he takes off running in the direction the staff member points.

“Yoshio-kun?” She calls after him, but he doesn’t stop. Even then, he’s still too late. When he reaches the bathroom, he finds the clothes Suzuki-san had been wearing, and the remains of a wig and mask. He goes back to report what he’s found to Sonoko and her mother, but he couldn’t be more excited. Kid is definitely on the ship, and if Shinichi can figure out who he’s disguised as now, he’ll have him! But before that….

“Where’s Ran…-san?” He asks Sonoko, belatedly adding an honorific to fit his fake identity.

“I don’t know, I thought she was following you.” Sonoko shrugs. “She’ll come back eventually. Anyway, are you going to catch Kid for me?”

Someone shouts too loudly too close to Shinichi’s ear before he can reply.

“I’m the one who’s going to capture Kaitou Kid!! Not some detective brat!” Shinichi turns around, wincing, to find Inspector Nakamori standing there fuming (though that seems to be his default mood). Nakamori walks away, muttering about interfering civilians, before Shinichi can say anything to him. Sonoko just laughs.

“I thought the police were supposed to stay in the hall?” He asks, still confused.

“Mama asked him and the superintendent to come inside. He’s the head of the Kid task force, after all.” She shrugs and watches partygoers approach her mother to talk. One man approaches Sonoko herself.

“Is Ayako here?” He asks, hopeful.

“No, something came up.” Sonoko shakes her head, and the man’s face falls. Shinichi watches as he walks away.

“He’s my sister’s fiance. I don’t think he really enjoys parties like this.” She explains.

“Ran-san still isn’t back.” Shinichi points out. “Should we go look for her?”

“I’m sure she just got lost. She has no sense of direction.” Sonoko says, and Shinichi shrugs.

“Who has no sense of direction?” Ran says from behind them, and he’s suddenly very glad he hadn’t said anything.

“Oh, you’re back! What’s it like outside?” Sonoko ignores Ran’s annoyance.

“The hallway is full of police, it’s way too crowded.” She doesn’t ask about Shinichi running off, but before he can bring it up to explain, Chaki asks for everyone’s attention from the stage.

His plan is to have all the guests pair up and create codewords that only the two of them will know, preventing Kid from disguising as anyone in the room without being caught. It’s not a bad idea. Shinichi pairs up with Ran.

“What should our codewords be?” She asks, and Shinichi leans in to whisper.

“I’ll say Holmes-”

“And I’ll say Lupin.” She finishes for him, smiling. Lupin? He was planning to suggest Watson. Since when does Ran read Arsène Lupin?

“Wh-” The lights shut off before he can ask her about it. A spotlight illuminates a figure in white high in the corner of the room. Kid.

Sonoko squeals as Kid announces that he’ll be taking the pearl. Her mother mutters about troublesome thieves and pulls a handgun from her purse. Before Shinichi can say anything, she fires multiple shots, hitting Kid, who falls.

Shinichi watches in shock as the crowd gathers around the fallen thief, and Nakamori starts yelling at Suzuki-san.

“Don’t worry, Inspector. He’s still alive.” She smirks as Kid sits up on the table he’d fallen on. “The gun is a model. This is the genius magician Sanada Kazumi, here to take our minds off of Kid.”

Sanada bows to the crowd, who applaud appreciatively. Shinichi just sighs. How is pretending to be Kid and then pretending to be shot taking anyone’s mind off of Kid? He’s pretty sure that the real Kid wouldn’t let himself be shot so easily, though.

Sanada starts a magic show, bringing out a deck of cards. He allows multiple audience members to shuffle for him, and Shinichi eyes every single one of them with suspicion, even Sonoko’s sister’s fiance, who drops the entire deck. Ran helps him pick them up as Shinichi rolls his eyes. Sanada rolls with it, telling Ran and Sonoko to pick a card.

“But first, I’ll see into your hearts and predict the card you’ll draw.” He announces, and the girls giggle. Shinichi looks over again at everyone who seems suspicious, not particularly interested in the magic show.

At least, not until Sonoko yells “Kaitou Kid!” as she and Ran look at the card they’ve drawn. It’s a note from Kid, and Shinichi is suddenly very, _very_ sure of who Kid has disguised himself as.

Sanada looks a little annoyed to have his show interrupted like this, but catching Kid is more important than his card tricks. Nakamori has started yelling again, and Shinichi is honestly kind of impressed by the volume, even if he wishes the inspector would stop shouting when he’s so close to Shinichi. Shinichi moves away from him, back to Ran, since they’re supposed to be sticking together.

“Wait, Ran! Your pearl is gone!” Sonoko points at the pearl-less brooch on Ran’s dress, and Shinichi narrows his eyes in suspicion. Ran looks around until she finds her pearl on the ground a few feet away.

“Ah! Can someone grab that, please?”

As soon as someone does, it explodes into smoke and confetti. Everyone else’s pearls follow suit, popping off of the brooches. People start to panic, fleeing the smoke. Shinichi stumbles when someone knocks into him. He watches Suzuki-san get knocked off her feet. Ran catches her, and when Sonoko points out that Suzuki-san’s pearl is gone too, Shinichi smirks. When the police dash outside to search the crowd for Kid, he grabs Ran’s hand.

“Let’s go, I know who Kid is!” He shouts over the chaos, dragging her out of the room. He leads her down to the engine room, where no one will interrupt.

“Uh, Yoshio-kun? I don’t think Kid is down here.” Ran says, looking around at the empty room.

“Pearls have to be handled carefully, you know.” He says, instead of responding. “The oils from your hands can dirty them. There are definitely people who don’t know that at this party. Suzuki-san would never have given her family treasure to someone who would only damage it. She had the real Black Star the whole time.”

“But Kid stole it, didn’t he? So who is Kid?” Shinichi ignores the question again, explaining Sanada’s card trick.

“Then Sanada-san is Kid?” Ran asks, and Shinichi shakes his head.

“I was watching the whole time, and he never got close to Suzuki-san.”

“Just tell me already, Yoshio-kun!” She pouts, and Shinichi smirks.

“There was someone else who could have hidden that message card after picking the cards up from the floor. Isn’t that right, Ran? Or should I say Kaitou Kid? You disguised yourself as Ran when she came looking for me earlier.” He explains everything he’s deduced of Kid’s plans and actions, both tonight and at their last meeting. He’d spent days thinking about the last heist.

Kid finally breaks character when Shinichi cracks his knuckles and promises to personally send him to jail. He’s pretty confident that his new vampire speed means he can catch Kid if it comes to a chase.

“Alright, Detective. I’ll return the pearl to you.” He tosses Shinichi the pearl, wrapped in a handkerchief. “Tell Suzuki-san I’m sorry for ruining her party.”

“It’s a little late for that.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. Your friend will catch a cold in the lifeboat I left her in if you don’t hurry. After all, I borrowed her clothes. And I’m a perfectionist.” He winks, pulling a bra strap off of his shoulder for Shinichi to see. _Oh no._

Shinichi is distracted by the knowledge that if Ran wakes up naked in a lifeboat, she’ll punch whoever finds her first. Kid takes that opportunity to throw down another flashbomb, disappearing while Shinichi is blinded. Shinichi is left to gather the clothes Kid leaves behind and hurry to find Ran before someone else can.

He makes it up onto the deck just as two men roll Ran out of a lifeboat. He shouts for them to wait, but they don’t seem to hear him. He skids to a halt in front of a fully clothed Ran, who is still unconscious. He drops the bundle of clothes in his arms, swearing. Kid tricked him.

He perks up when he notices the note taped to Ran’s dress. It’s got another rose taped to it, but it’s just a compliment on Ran’s dress. Does that mean the rose is for her, or…? He decides it doesn’t really matter, since it’ll be confiscated as evidence.

The media is waiting when they dock, and Shinichi’s picture ends up on the front page of the local paper, under the headline “Teen Detective Single-handedly Saves Black Star.” He doesn’t read the article, but Sonoko does, and Ran texts him about how impressed Sonoko is that Shinichi had gotten close to Kid and recovered the pearl. She assures him that after that, he has an automatic invitation to the next heist.

Shinichi accepts. The heist was the most fun he’s had since becoming a vampire, and one of the first nights he’s had without a murder case in weeks. Kid is one of the smartest criminals he’s ever met. _Heisei Lupin indeed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These past two chapters have followed canon events very closely, but don't worry, there won't be too much of that from here on!


	5. A New Ally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi meets someone who knows much more about vampires than he does, and learns several important things.

As Fujimine Yoshio, Shinichi doesn’t get nearly as much attention as he did as himself. The media doesn’t follow him, and people don’t start whispering gossip as soon as they realize who he is. He’s actually grateful for the anonymity, especially since being in the spotlight with the Organization around would get him killed. His hair is starting to grow out, and eventually it’ll be so long that he won’t have to wear the wig when he goes out anymore.

He’s gotten used to being Yoshio instead of Shinichi. So much so that he’s surprised when he turns around to find someone watching him from behind the police tape around the crime scene he’s working on. It’s a girl who looks around his age, with a cap and sunglasses on. Definitely not anyone he knows. He chalks it up to morbid curiosity about a murder scene and turns back to his work.

But she’s still there when he’s solved the case and the police are leaving. She approaches him as he ducks under the yellow tape on his way out, and he’s immediately wary.

“Can I help you?” He asks as she stops in front of him and looks him over as if she’s judging him.

“I think the real question is whether or not _I_ can help _you_. Have you even fed yet?” She smirks at him, activating alarm bells in his mind.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, _Kudo Shinichi_.”

Shinichi freezes, but before he can jump to deny everything, the girl opens her mouth to reveal two long fangs.

“You’re-”

“Yes. And so are you. If you don’t want to die within the week, you’ll come with me.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere we can talk privately.” She looks at him over the sunglasses. “I know a place.”

He follows, keeping his guard up the whole time. Her “private” place turns out to be the professor’s house, of all places.

“Oh, Ai-kun, you’re back! And it’s good to see you, Shinichi-kun.” The professor greets them at the door.

“Professor? What’s going on, who is she?”

“Ai-kun, you said you were going to explain things to him.” He frowns.

“And I intend to.” The girl says as she sits down on the couch. “Come on, Kudo-kun, we don’t have all night.” Shinichi sits in the chair across from her, thoroughly confused.

“I won’t bore you with a long backstory, so to put things simply: my name is Miyano Shiho, and I created the drug that made us both vampires.”

“You work for the Black Organization!?”

“I used to. Then they killed my sister, and I refused to continue my research until someone would tell me why she had to die. They sentenced me to death, and I took my own poison. Despite the odds, here I am.” She says it all without emotion, as if discussing the weather.

“Why are you here, then?”

“Because I’m the only one who knows you’re not dead, and I thought you might like things to stay that way. Besides, you’re a terrible vampire. Someone has to teach you the basics, at the very least.”

“Well, _excuse_ me for not knowing how to be a _vampire_!” Shinichi huffs. “I didn’t even know they were real until a few weeks ago.”

“That brings us to an important point. You’ve been a vampire for nearly a month, and you haven’t fed yet. If you don’t do it soon, you’ll die.”

“What am I supposed to do?” He isn’t about to just bite someone on the street!

“I’ve known other vampires to steal from blood banks or hospitals when they couldn’t or wouldn’t feed from a human directly.”

“Wait, you know other vampires? Did they take the drug too?” He asks, suddenly filled with questions. He hadn’t known there were other vampires at all until just now.

“No. I don’t know much about those vampires who aren’t like us, but I know they can turn humans.” She shrugs. “Maybe that’s where they all come from. But that isn’t the point. We’re talking about your life, Kudo-kun.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll steal from a blood bank.” He waves a hand dismissively. “Anyway, are there any differences between us and the ‘natural’ vampires? What powers do we have besides turning into mist? Are you and I the same, or are there any differences in how the drug affected us?”

“Slow down, Detective.” Miyano holds up a hand. “I’ll tell you what I know about the drug and vampires after you’ve fed. You don’t have the instinct yet, so you won’t know you’re starving until it’s too late.”

“Alright, but I expect a full explanation, Miyano-san.”

“Call me Haibara. The professor told me about your simple disguise and alias, so I’ve adopted one of my own. Haibara Ai.”

“I helped her come up with it.” The professor chimes in proudly, explaining how he’d gotten parts of her name from various female detective characters.

“Anyway, do you want me to drive you to the blood bank, Shinichi-kun?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want you to be seen in the area if I’m going to be stealing from them.” If everyone is pushing for him to do this tonight, he will. He can turn into mist, it should be easy to slip in, grab some blood, and slip out. He tells Haibara and the professor to expect him back soon and sets out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s as easy as he’d expected. There are no guards, and there’s a perfect blind spot for him to materialize where the security cameras won’t see him. He throws a few blood bags into his backpack, making sure to get a variety of types, in case that’s important. He’s in and out in minutes, and back at the professor’s before sunrise.

“Well done.” Haibara says, snatching one of the blood bags as he lays them out on the coffee table.

“Hey!” She ignores his protest and sinks her fangs into the bag, sucking the blood from it. Now that he’s here in front of it, the blood does look a lot more...tempting than he thought it would. He picks up a bag labelled “B+” and drops it in shock as he feels his fangs lengthen.

“Your fangs will elongate when you feed.” Haibara points out, though it’s entirely unhelpful after he’s already experienced it. He picks the blood bag up again and sinks his fangs into it as he’d seen Haibara do. Unlike Haibara, Shinichi is messy, getting blood on his face. He finds he doesn’t care. The blood tastes _good_ , better than any time he had gotten blood in his mouth as a human. He’s drained the bag before he realizes it, and he feels satisfied in a way he hasn’t been since he was turned.

“There, isn’t that better?” Haibara asks, insufferably smug.

“You promised me answers after I fed.” He reminds her. He still has a lot of questions.

“I did.” She sighs. “I’ll tell you what I know, but it’s not much.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

“First, now that you’ve fed for the first time, you’ll start to feel the hunger when you need blood again. We didn’t have it from the beginning because we’re sort of like artificial vampires, it seems. But the longer you go without feeding, the harder it will be to resist the hunger. If you don’t feed regularly, you could lose control and attack someone.”

“And you only thought to tell me that _after_ I fed?” Shinichi asks incredulously. He didn‘t sign up for this!

“Would you rather have died of starvation?” She raises an eyebrow, and he has to admit that he would’ve chosen to feed even if he had known the details.

“Anyway, we have powers humans don’t, but there are also limitations. You’ve obviously already discovered that sunlight burns.” Haibara nods at Shinichi’s almost healed hand. “But we have better night vision. If we’re like natural vampires, we won’t age anymore, and we can’t catch human illnesses. We can-”

“Wait! We’re immortal?”

“Yes, I did just say that. Keep up, please.”

“Just...give me a minute to process that.” What does this mean for him? He’ll be sixteen forever while everyone he knows and loves will grow old and die. He hopes he and Haibara will at least become good friends, since it seems like he’ll be stuck with her as a fellow immortal. It won’t do him any good to worry about this now, but he has a feeling he won’t be sleeping well today.

“Alright, keep going. I’m ready now.”

“Just because we won’t die of natural causes doesn’t mean we can’t die. Natural vampires can be killed by exposure to sunlight, silver weapons, and anything too big to heal, like decapitation. I assume we are the same, so try to avoid those things.”

“So we can heal smaller injuries?”

“Yes, anything that doesn’t kill you will heal very quickly. But be careful, if anyone sees you getting up after being shot or stabbed, your cover will be blown. You can’t let people know you’re a vampire. Even if the Organization doesn’t make the connection, there are vampire hunters out there.”

Great. There are even more people who want Shinichi dead now.

“As for common vampire myths, you can still appear in photos and modern mirrors. Very old mirrors with silver backing, however, will not work for you. Garlic won’t kill you, but it will make you sick. Crosses have no effect on you. And of course, you can shapeshift.”

“I already know about the mist thing. Is there more to it?”

Rather than answer, she smirks at him, and in the space of a second, there’s a small bat sitting in her place on the couch. She lets Shinichi study her for a moment before turning back.

“We have three forms: human, mist, and bat. But keep in mind that you still can’t go out in the sun as a bat or mist.” She explains.

“Let me try.” He says, trying to imagine how it would feel to be a bat. It takes a good several minutes of concentrating with his eyes closed to figure it out, but when he opens his eyes, he’s a bat. Everything is so much bigger than him, but he prefers this to being a cloud of mist. It’s less disorienting to turn into a bat. He stretches his wings out, looking himself over, then flaps them experimentally.

It’s not that far down from the chair if he fails, so he crawls the the edge of the seat and jumps off, flapping his wings. Apparently vampire instincts also include bat instincts, because he just _knows_ how to fly like a real bat. It’s sort of fun, he decides as he circles Haibara’s head until she swats at him.

He returns to his chair to change back to his human form. Haibara rolls her eyes at his grin.

“If you’re done playing around, I’m going to sleep. The sun will be up soon, and I’ve told you everything I know about vampires.”

She’s right, dawn isn’t far off. But Shinichi isn’t done “playing around,” as she’d put it. He wants to familiarize himself with his bat form and the transformation. He stays up for a while after she’s gone, flying around the house and testing his abilities.


End file.
